One Last Tale
by chaoticbenevolence
Summary: A Hero will rise from the ashes of a fallen town, and the bards will sing of his adventures.


Deep in the forest of Albion lay the small town of Oakvale, unchanged by time and untouched by the sword. Here lived a boy and his family, a boy dreaming of greatness. of one day being a Hero. Sometimes he imagined himself as a noble knight… or a powerful wizard. And other times he dreamt he was an evil warrior.  
But for all his dreams of greatness he couldn't possibly imagine the powerful destiny that lay before him…

**_No, none could foresee the future of this child. For in this child, lay the fate of the world…_**

"No…" She mumbled absently in her sleep. "No… don't!" She tossed and turned; seemingly unable to escape a fate she had no means to deal with. Her mumblings of horror went unnoticed to all the sleeping people of Oakvale, the sounds of fates will manifest within the mind of a young girl. Unheard by all but one.

Adam turned on his bed, woken with a start at the sound of his sisters' near silent screams. He sat up and looked over to her sisters' bed, watching her writhe beneath the sheets. He knew what was happening to her, another one of those nightmares that visited her at night, speaking of doom and pain. It hurt hi to see his sibling like that, but he did not dare to awake her, for he remembered the last time he had tried to wake her up in her troubled dreams. She had not gotten up that day, instead, fell into a coma for a week.

He tried to go back to sleep with the knowledge that he could do nothing for her, but he could not. The instinct of family ruled any feeling of being tired, and he watched her as she thrashed in her sleep.

It was near dawn that she finally stopped; yet still the morning light was at least an hour away. Theresa lay finally in some semblance of peace, and so Adam put his head down on the pillow, but no sleep found him. No, he was too shaken up from hearing his sisters sleeping ranting, speaking of death and fire, a travesty that would change the lives of all he knew.

Young Adam found no sleep that night.

Dreams found him as he slept on the stairs on the front of his house attempting to make up for missed hours of last night. Dreams of being a mighty hero, loved by all and cheered by the crowds of goodly people, and dreams of being a mighty master of conquest, people quaking at the mere mention of his name, and falling to their knees in homage to him, just before he cut them down in a single swipe.

He was awoken by the sound of his fathers' voice.

"Wake up boy!" He scolded. "Daydreaming again are you? Just like your mother, mind always wandering."

Adam did not answer, not wanting to worry his father with the real reason he was sleeping. His father knew of Theresa's dreams of course, but he had not witnessed one in many weeks. Adam did not want his father to worry, if Theresa wanted him to know, she would tell him herself.

"Well let it wander off and find your sister would you? She's out by the old farm, and remember it's her birthday." He said.

Adam stiffened, he had forgotten about her birthday. He cared for his sister and all his family truly, but that could not stop a shoddy memory.

"Don't tell me you forgot again." His father said, reading accurately the expression on his sons' face. "Well, I'm not bailing you out of it this time. But tell you what," He said as an idea struck him. "You go around town, help the people, and I'll give a gold coin for every good deed you do, sound good?" He asked.

Adam nodded gratefully, happy to at least have a chance to redeem himself.

"Well what are you waiting for, go on." He said with a small smile as he watched his son walk off.

Adam walked quickly, thinking of a worker at the barn whom always seemed to need help with something, but something else caught his eye not too far from his house. A young girl who seemed to walk by morosely.

"Hey there," Adam greeted as he approached, "What's wrong Marie?"

"Oh Adam!" She yelped when she noticed him. "I've lost Rosie. I lost her and I don't know where!" She cried softly. "Please help me find her, she's a lovely stuffed bear with a blue patch." She pleaded.

Silently he nodded, which seemed to brighten Marie's mood some. Marie and her family had moved too Oakvale recently, her parents the type whom liked too move around and see the world. She had only a few friends in the town due to her newcomer status and the few children her age, but she had quickly become friends with Theresa, a young boy named David, and himself rather quickly. Theresa had once even told him that young Marie had some crush on him that led her to be rather shy around him. He did not know where he would find the bear, but he had agreed due to not wanting too disappoint the girl.

He continued down the hill, hearing the sounds of two people having a conversation marked with giggles and chuckles behind the house of one of his neighbors, but he ignored it. He made his way towards the barn, but before he could approach, he noticed a scene unfolding further down the road. He approached, to see a large child known as Jimmy picking on a small child David.

"Give it to me you stupid little idiot!" Jimmy ordered.

David did nothing but cry, unable to stand up for himself out of fear of the large child.

"Hey there." Adam calmly said as he approached.

"Please help!" David called. "He won't leave me alone!" He said with a chocked voice.

"You shut your bleeding mouth you little idiot!" Jimmy shouted at him whilst approaching menacingly with a raised fist. Adam stood in his way at the last moment.

"Leave him alone Jimmy." Adam ordered.

"You stay out of this!" Jimmy barked back, attempting to push Adam out of his way. Adam would not be pushed aside though, and instead moved closer, mere inches away.

"Leave him alone." He ordered again.

"W-what? You wanna make something of it?" Jimmy asked, a small trace of uncertainty edging his voice, obviously not used to others standing up to him.

Adams' hands twitched. He knew his father hated it, but he did want to make something of it. Yes, he didn't know why, but he seemed too have some natural affinity towards combat that did have a knack for getting him into trouble. The brute relied on fear to win over smaller opponents, and had little skill. Adam knew that it would be so easy to leave him hurting but…

No, he would not start a fight, not on his sisters' birthday. He would not fight, unless Jimmy started it.

"L-look. All I want is the stupid little teddy bear so I can rip its head off. So just let me-" He started as he started to walk around Adam and reach for David, but Adam knocked his hand away before it got far.

"Oh, s-so you do want to start something eh?" Jimmy asked uncertainly. Adam did not answer, other than an unrelenting stare that said he would indeed fight for his little friend.

Jimmy looked to the left and right, looking for some way out, but he knew that if he ran, he wouldn't be the toughest kid in town any more, but he was simply afraid, though he would not ever admit it, to fight this kid who could stare him down like he was doing. Then, though, Jimmy had a clever, or, clever at least as far as Jimmy was concerned, idea.

He did start to turn and walk away, attempting to look like he was running away, even adding an indignant 'humph', and then when Adam seemed to put his guard down to check on David, he turned back on Adam and charged.

Adam, though, had expected such a move, and when Jimmy charged, the cartilage in his nose was compressed as it made contact with Adams' quick turning gloved fist.

Jimmy bounced back in pain, holding his bleeding nose. He tried to stifle his cries but to no avail. "Alright! I'm sorry! I'll leave him alone! Just please don't hit me anymore!" He cried as he ran, attempting to get as far away as possible.

"T-thank you." David said gratefully. "Here, you can have Rosie, she'll be safe with you." He said as he handed a patched up teddy bear to Adam.

"So you had her?" Adam asked. "Marie's been looking for her."

"I'm sorry! I would have brought her back earlier, but Jimmy stopped me!" He panicked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell her what happened." Adam assured him, trying to act the hero that the eldest in a group of children are often seen.

"Thank you!" David said again.

Adam quickly made his way back to Marie, whom was still standing around his house.

"Here you go." He said as he handed the small bear to Marie.

Her eyes lit up and she squealed with joy as she quickly grabbed the bear. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"Don't mention it." Adam said, trying to calm the girl down.

"Nuh-uh! I'm going to tell the whole town about how you saved my Rosie." Se said before running off.

He scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly as he watched her go. He could not keep his attention to the quickly shrinking form for long, though, as again he heard the noise from behind the house of his neighbor. This time he decided to investigate. Slowly he crept around the corner, to find a bald man talking with a young women with grayish hear parted to both sides at the middle. Bob from down the road, and Cathy Whom lived across the road from him. Bob obviously noticed Adam, as he jumped up with a start and started blabbering.

"Um uh, what? I-I've never met this women before, never seen her in my life." He said, though he quickly noticed that someone whom had no clue what he was doing with the young women had caught him. "Look kid," he started, changing tactics, "Just don't tell my wife where I am. There's a shiny gold piece in it if you agree."

Adam just gave a non-commitatant gesture, confused at the moment.

"Look, just don't tell my wife okay?" He pleaded.

Adam gave nothing more than a shrug as walked away from the scene, heading back down to the square. He went back to the barn, and actually made it all the way there this time. Farmer Briar quickly ran up to meet him, looking quite flustered.

"Hey lad! Could you do me a favor? Well, 'nature calls, as you could say, but I need someone to watch the crates. Would you mind doing it?" He asked.

"Sure." Adam agreed.

"Thank ye lad!" He called as he ran off.

Then Adam did what he was asked, and stood between the crates until Briar got back. It would have been an easy job, if not for the taunting of a young Ethan.

"My cousin says these crates might have stuff in them, come on! Let's give them a good smashing!" He said.

Adam sighed in annoyance. Ethan was a friend of Jimmy's; both were annoying and rather stupid.

"Come on, wouldn't you rather be smashing things?" He taunted. "Unless your scared. Unless you're a blubbering little girl."

Adam managed to smile, but only at the thought of punting the child as he would a chicken like in the games they often played to see whom could kick the farthest.

"Come on, let's smash things! Don't be afraid, there's still time 'til he gets back."

"Shut up!" Adam snapped.

"Come on! Let's break-"

"I said shut up!" He shouted.

"Fine! Be a good little girl!" Ethan spat.

The farmer came back then- and with perfect timing too, because Adam was close to snapping at the annoying little child- and thanked Adam for watching the crates.

Adam left then, about too head back to his house until he heard shouting off to the side.

"Where is that lay about husband of mine?" The women asked to no one in particular.

"Um, Mrs. Shalter?" Adam asked.

"Oh what is it boy?" She asked impatiently.

"I know where your husband is."

"What? Where?" She stepped closer. "Well, speak up boy!"

"Um," He started, unsure if he should really tell her if she was this angry, "talking to some women behind the Winlock house."

"Really now?!" She yelped. "Thank you boy," she told him, calming for a moment, "I'll be sure to tell your dad what a good boy you've been." With that, she ran off, yelling something about turning her husband into Balverine food.

He walked back home, shaking his head all the while, unsure if he'd ever understand how adults worked.

"Ah, son there you are." His father greeted warmly as Adam approached. "I've heard quite a few good things about what you've been doing today. Well, a promise is a promise." He said. "Here you are, four gold coins." His father said as he handed Adam the coins.

"There now, you should have enough for a gift. You can buy it from the vendor that came to town today." He said.

Adam nodded quickly with a small smile. He may be able to fix his mistake yet.

He found the salesman quickly and bought the gift, a box of chocolates, and still had a coin left over. He quickly pocketed it quickly and moved quickly to the farm, where he knew Theresa would be. It was a quick run, and a short look over the small farm. After all, her pink shirt did clash with the brown dirt.

"Hello dear brother," she greeted as he entered the gate, "I hope you haven't forgotten what day it is today, like you did last year."

"Of course not." Adam lied.

Theresa smirked knowingly at him, he never could get away lying to her. She always seemed to catch on.

"Oh, by the way, sorry if I woke you last night, I had another one of those dreams." She apologized. "But enough of that," she said, quickly changing the subject, "I'm still waiting for my present!"

Adam laughed and gave her the box of chocolates that he was hiding behind his back.

"Oh I'd knew you'd get me chocolates!" she cried excitedly, "It's just like in my dream." She giggled softly as she took them from him. She suddenly looked at the scarecrow and noticed the way the shadow was pointing.

"Let's go home, mother will be home any minute now!"

She quickly rushed for the gate, letting Adam try and catch up to her in her wake. They were about to race home when suddenly Theresa froze mid-step.

"Wait." She said, "Something's wrong."

Suddenly, Old man Rogers came running in through the town gate, screaming of bandits. Adam was about to ask him what he was talking about, when sharpened steel on wood plowed into Roger's chest, hurtling him forward.

"They're here." Theresa whispered in fear, "They're really hear, like in my dream."

"What dream?" Adam yelled.

Theresa quickly shook herself out of her stupor and yelled at Adam, "Quick, hide!"

"What about-"

"There is no time! Please just trust me, you have to hide!" She screamed. She gave him a quick hug, on that felt off to him, like it might be… their last. She quickly ran to town, silencing any forthcoming arguments. He didn't know what was going on, but Teresa had never steered him wrong before. He quickly jumped back over the fence and hid in the vines that had grown against the fence. He looked through the fence, just in time to see Mrs. Kilraz get cut down.

He didn't know how long he stood there, hugging the fence, not daring to breath every time a bandit came close to the farm, wanting his mom or dad to hold him and telling him it would all be alright, watching his home go up in flames, praying for his friends and family, but when he finally worked up the courage to move, the bandits had left.

He didn't know where he worked up the strength to run, but he did, passing bodies and flames. He passed Mrs. Robins, the lady who had a garden and always gave a few flowers to Theresa and Marie, Mr. Johnsei, the baker, everyone he had ever known, bleeding from several wounds. None of them though, hit him like the body he saw after he made it past the bridge.

"Dad!" He screamed, rushing even faster. He fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.

"Dad," he whispered. Memories flashed before his eyes, memories of happier times, and he closed his eyes, hoping to wake up in one of those times, hoping this was all a nightmare. He didn't wake up though, and his father was still bleeding on the ground.

A noise broke his contemplation, the noise of a yelling bandit that had snuck up while he was crying. The masked bandit charged him with his sword drawn, and at that moment, something in Adam snapped. At that moment, he didn't care if he died, he forgot about all the bodies around him. He had a focus, he wanted blood. In a sudden movement, he jumped up and ran forward, more than ready to meat the charge.

Before he could do anything foolish though, the bandit lit up blue, and fell smoking to the dirt. Where he once stood, a man with ornate tattoos on his face and an almost regal looking purple and blue outfit was standing. The man outstretched his hand, "Come on boy," He said, "you don't want to die here."

Adam looked at the hand cautiously, then stretched out to it, the first friendly thing he had seen in hours. Their hands touched, and they were engulfed in a blue light.

He vomited. The events of the night fully caught up to him, and he couldn't take it.

"Come on boy, I'd thought you'd be stronger than that." The man said stretching a hand toward Adam. Adam though, in his rage, swung wildly at him, though he easily sidestepped the attack.

"Save your energy boy, it's not me you want to fight. Believe it or not, I just save your life." Adam though, found no solace in this.

The man kneeled down to Adam's height, and spoke softly, "Look, my name is Maze, an elder at the Guild of Heroes. I know what you went through, and I know you want revenge. Don't you?"

Adam thought for a moment, of what had happened, of what he had lost, and those who were to blame, and that he had nowhere left to go. He nodded.

"Then I have the means to let you achieve that." He said. "Follow me."

Maze led him to what looked like a large mansion from what he could see, and opened the doors, and Adam could see that it was much more that that. The large spiral stairs, the large library that he could see, all of it was magnificent. He couldn't take time to examine further though, as Maze took him to a bold man with a regal air about him. The two elders talked for a few moments, then the older man turned to him.

"Hm, doesn't look much like Hero material to me," He said thoughtfully, "but Maze has never been wrong about these things. He'll sleep with the girl until we can sort things out."

Maze nodded and led Adam to an upstairs room, and pointed out his bed. "Sleep well," Maze said as he left, You're training starts tomorrow." With that, he left.

Adam sat on his bed for a while, thinking. Unconsciously, his hand slipped into his pocket, and pulled out a small coin, the one his father had given him. He examined it, and held it close to his chest, fearing that it would slip away like everything else. His parents had taught him to be strong, to be brave, but they weren't there, and they couldn't stop the tears.

**CB: Well? What do you think? I know it seems sort of cliché right now, but I promise that this won't be a simple retelling of the game, the hero will do other stuff then just quests. Please everyone, read and review.**


End file.
